


Washed Up: Storm's Eye

by LinksLipsSinkShips



Series: Washed Up [2]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Hurricanes & Typhoons, Loving Marriage, M/M, Parenthood, Set in the Washed Up Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-11 14:32:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15974294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinksLipsSinkShips/pseuds/LinksLipsSinkShips
Summary: Set in the Washed Up universe, over a year after our story last ended, the small Island Rhett, Link, and their daughter Charlie have made their home is getting hit by an intense hurricane. As young Charlie tries to understand what's happening, Rhett and Link work together to protect her, protect their love, and make some big decisions about what the future holds and what makes a house a home.





	1. Approach

Link paced back and forth, and Rhett peered over his book watching. His husband always seemed nervous, and as he watched Link return to the counter he’d been standing at minutes before, only to restack the batteries he’d just stacked, Rhett tried to suppress a smile. He turned his eyes back to his book, re-reading the sentence Link’s movements had distracted him from.

“Are you sure the board is on her window tight enough?” Link asked. Rhett peeked up over the top of his book and licked his thumb to turn the page. He still hadn’t adjusted to being able to easily see Link in the kitchen from his high-backed chair, but they’d recently rearranged the furniture to meet the needs of their growing toddler, and from here, he had a better view of both rooms.

“For the thirty-fourth time, yes, I’m certain. I used extra screws to make sure.” Rhett gave a warm look to Link. “Sit down. Worrying won’t stop a hurricane.” After the last time they’d gotten ready for a hurricane, Rhett had left Link home to prepare. It resulted in a lot of blood, a lot of bandages, and one sore leg during the storm when Link had dropped the board, letting it drag down his leg and tear into the skin painfully. This time, Rhett didn’t take any chances. He had the bigger wingspan and was better able to maneuver the board, so he sent Link to the store with Charlie to get the supplies… water, non-perishable food, sandbags. Anything they didn’t get at the hardware store beforehand.

Rhett had asked his friend Danny for help, offering to board up the restaurant Danny worked at and had recently purchased in exchange. The house was secure. Rhett was positive her window would be fine.

“What if it breaks while she’s sleeping?” Link asked, pacing back over and sitting on the couch.

“Link, I boarded it outside  _ and  _ inside.” His tone was patient, though, in spite of Link asking again and again. He understood Link’s worries and fears and he didn’t want Link to feel like he was overreacting like this, even if he was. After all, Charlie was their first child, likely the only one they’d ever have, so Link tended to be slightly overprotective. He could be fun, and was more likely than Rhett to sit on the floor and play with her, stacking her blocks and singing songs. But Rhett was looser and more fun overall, the type to read her a book one evening and the next day, put on her life jacket and toss her into the bay. She’d laugh and giggle at that, waiting for him to dive in after her and scoop her up. They were both fun, engaged parents, but they each went about that fun a little differently.

Their parenting skills were reflected in the sort of worries they had for her, too. Rhett worried about things like if they would somehow be unable to provide for her, despite Link’s assurances that it was silly and they had plenty of money now. He worried she’d be bullied for having two dads once she was old enough for school. And mostly, he worried that living on an island, where half of the population was seasonal, would make it hard for her to make lasting friendships. As much as he loved the island, he often wondered if they should move back to North Carolina after all.

Link tended to focus on the little worries of the moment. What if Charlie hit her head on the table? The nearest hospital was on the mainland. He worried her life jacket might come loose and she’d forget everything she learned in her baby swim lessons. And today, he worried about if her window would break during the storm.

Rhett wasn’t surprised or bothered by Link fretting about the window. Instead, he closed his book and walked over to Link, pulling him down to the floor to sit with Charlie as he joined them both. “How about she sleeps in our room during the storm?” He’d have suggested anything that might make Link feel better at this point. The storm was going to hit overnight, it seemed, and Charlie didn’t fully know what was happening, but she could still see the worry painted on her father’s face.

“I think that would help,” Link agreed. “You want to do that, Charlie? Want to sleep in our room tonight?”

“Okay, daddy,” she said, turning back to the blocks she’d been playing with. Lately, she attempted to build bridges with her blocks, and Link was positive she was a budding engineer or something. “What’s happening?”

“There’s going to be a storm tonight,” he said. “But we’ve got lots of flashlights to make sure we’ll be able to see if the lights go out.”

He was mostly thankful they’d kept the other electronics limited. They still didn’t own a television, preferring books to pass the time, and even though Link had purchased a computer at his publisher’s request, it stayed in the attic above their bedrooms, in his office, which was locked and out of Charlie’s way. Rhett and Link had gone to the pub a few nights before, leaving Charlie with a sitter, for a much-needed date. Some of the guys had been talking about dreading the thought of a hurricane hitting, knowing they weren’t ready to listen to the whines from their children about not having their tablets or favorite shows. For now, though, Charlie was oblivious to all of it. Link was certain they’d have arguments when she got into school about what the other kids had at home, but for now, they didn’t worry about it at all.

If she needed any entertainment, Rhett reminded her there was a beach across the street, a bay in the backyard, museums on the island, and tons of children’s books on the lowest shelf, and he’d be happy to help her with any of those things.

But for now, they had to consider the storm about to hit and the fact that none of those things, aside from the books, were even options. For now, they were boarded into the house safely, playing the waiting game for it to hit and eventually blow over. And the thought of no lights was a new concept to Charlie, since they’d safely avoided hurricanes in the year and a half they’d been home from North Carolina.

“No lights?” she asked.

“No lights, Charlie,” Rhett said. He smoothed her blonde hair with his hand. “It’s alright. It’ll be a good time for us to tell spooooky stories,” he told her, exaggerating the word and affecting a creepy voice. She giggled. If Charlie was a fan of anything, it was Rhett’s scary stories that he’d read to her or tell her from memory. Sometimes, Link would stress that they would give her nightmares or were a little too old for her, but Rhett paid him little mind and sat her on his lap, reading them anyway while Link shook his head and returned to his own book. Despite living with Rhett for nearly four years, he still hadn’t read all of the books on Rhett’s shelves.

“No lights… no dinner?” Charlie asked.

“We’ll still have dinner,” Link said, placing a block on top of the one she’d put down. “Maybe we can use candles and flashlights for a special dinner. And tonight there will still be lights. The storm isn’t here yet, remember?”

The storm stayed away, too, well after Charlie had finished her macaroni and well after they’d told more bedtime stories than they usually allowed. They tucked her into the bed between them that night, her and her favorite stuffed animal, a small squirrel. Rhett toyed with the idea of creating a small place on the floor for her to sleep, soft blankets and pillows to keep her nice and warm, but Link protested, worried that if the lights went out, they’d trip over her in the middle of the night. At his request, she was in their shared bed.

“Only for tonight,” Rhett reminded her before she fell asleep. The last thing they needed, he thought, was to make any sort of habit of this. He was proud of the fact that they’d managed to get her to sleep in her bed most of her life since she’d joined their family, or rather, since Link had gone back to North Carolina for her and eventually brought Rhett to join him. But Rhett thought Charlie sleeping in her own room wasn’t just convenient. It was a necessity. He and Link loved being fathers more than anything, but the quiet peace at the end of the day, the alone time they shared, it was an essential part of their daily routine.

After all, they couldn’t exactly  _ make  _ another child together, and weren’t entirely positive they wanted any more than Charlie, but they could certainly practice in their own room. Tonight, though, Charlie was there, so once she fell asleep, Rhett closed his book and gave Link a quick kiss, then kissed Charlie’s forehead.

It was amazing how much she looked like both of them. If they could have somehow created a biological child that was both of theirs, Charlie would be what that child would look like. But somehow, a child who had neither of their genes looked like a perfect fit anyway. Rhett credited Link’s ex, Samantha, looking incredibly similar to Rhett himself, and Samantha for being with a man who looked strikingly similar to Link. She certainly had a type. But Charlie was perfect and beautiful. She had the blondish hair Rhett had, soft waves to it, the same reddish tint by nature. And Link’s bold, blue eyes with the long eyelashes, she had those, too. Link’s soft lips that curled up into the most mischievous grin seemed perfectly placed on her face as if by design, and Rhett’s small chin, which he hid behind a thick beard from embarrassment, perfectly suited her tiny face. She was theirs, no doubt about it.

Link closed his eyes and smiled to himself about how lucky he’d gotten. Things could have been so much worse, given all of the circumstances. Heck, he could have not even been alive at this point. But he wasn’t just alive. He was given an ideal life. Falling asleep to that was easy. Staying asleep once the storm hit, not so much.


	2. Adoration

The storm hit with such force that Link was surprised Charlie didn’t stir at all. It had been silent when they’d fallen asleep, but the onslaught of rain and wind on the leading edge was overwhelming. The thunder crashed and rolled, too, and Link could already hear the whistle of the wind under the house, even from upstairs. Link blinked in the darkness and put his glasses on his face. He still wasn’t used to them, but finding out that his crippling writing headaches were coming from poor vision had led to them becoming a necessity.

He looked at Charlie’s sleeping face in the darkness, then looked past her to Rhett’s side of the bed only to find it empty. He hesitated to leave Charlie alone. After all, she rarely slept in their bed, barring an illness or something, and he worried she’d get confused or lost. But he needed to know where Rhett was, to make sure that Rhett hadn’t been pulled out of bed by a broken window or some other storm damage. He turned a flashlight on and left it on the bedside table to give her some light if she woke, then grabbed a second flashlight for himself. He headed to the door, then the stairs, not hearing Rhett upstairs at all.

As he got further down the stairs, he saw a glow creeping up it, the glow that could only be created by a large number of candles. Rhett was in his chair, reading, the entire room illuminated by the flickering dances of light. There were far more candles than Rhett needed to read by. In fact, a single candle on his side table should have been plenty. But just because Rhett was reading didn’t mean he’d specifically lit the candles for that, as evidenced by the blankets and pillows on the floor. As soon as he heard the ever-present creak of the bottom step, he looked up with a smile. “Hey. I was wondering if you were going to come down here.”

He’d been waiting. It was obvious in his tone and the way he perched on the chair instead of settling into it. His voice was smooth, soft enough not to wake Charlie, only given enough force for Link to hear him over the storm, but no more.

“You weren’t in bed,” Link offered up with a small shrug. “What’s all this?”

“Do you remember our first time?” Rhett asked. He looked at the spread on the floor. Link remembered it clearly, of course. They’d had many false starts to their relationship, moments where they’d gotten close, kissed or gone further, and Link had pulled back in fear. At that point in his life, he had no clue who he was, literally. No one could have blamed him for having too many questions to let his attraction to Rhett go anywhere specific at first. But the last time a hurricane hit the small island they lived on, Link’s fears were gone. By that point, he was in this for good, and with the sound of the hurricane raging around them, he’d given Rhett everything. Not just his body, but his promise that he’d never run away again. He’d done that before, each time they’d gotten closer, pulling away physically or emotionally. But from the hurricane on, he was committed to being Rhett’s, and to Rhett being his.

“I remember,” Link recalled. “It was during a hurricane, surrounded by lit candles,” he gestured around them, “right there on the floor.” He looked at the blankets and pillows there. Rhett had been one step ahead of him the entire time, and Charlie’s toys were stacked neatly out of the way in the corner.

“I was thinking it couldn’t hurt to make use of the hurricane,” Rhett said. “You know, we don’t get them that often. And that’s good for the house, but hurricanes are good for the soul when they have memories like this.” He settled onto the floor and his back popped slightly. It had only been a couple of years, but it had been long enough that, after chasing Charlie, his body had started to show some of its wear. It didn’t matter. He was doing this.  _ They  _ were doing this.

Link moved closer to Rhett, settling onto the floor in front of him and leaning in to kiss him. They had sex regularly, but it had been a long while since they’d made love -- passionate, tender, emotional. He craved it, desperate, but Rhett’s eyes pleaded with him to slow down. He turned them, pressing Link to the floor and kissing his way down any exposed skin on Link’s body, fingers trailing along whatever skin was within reach. He kissed his way back up, laying beside Link and running his fingertips along Link’s arms. “You remember what happened before we did anything?” Rhett asked.

“I told you I thought I was falling in love with you,” Link said.

“You did. I’m so in love with you, Link. I really am. Sometimes I forget to tell you because we get so busy every day and with Charlie, it can be harder to remember to take time to focus on you, but I--”

“I know,” Link said, cutting Rhett off and rolling closer to kiss him. “I know.” It didn’t have to be said, and if Link was being honest, Rhett talking only risked waking Charlie more. They were right in the thick of the storm and right now, Link just wanted to worship Rhett’s skin, to give him everything he wanted, to show him that even though so much had changed over the last couple of years, nothing had. They were still who they were, just so much more instead.

Time had changed them in some ways. Link now knew parts of his past, and instead of the name Link being a placeholder for a name he didn’t know, it was now a choice, one he’d made, claiming Link as his name. And while they’d once dreamed of the possibility of being married and having a family, now it was a reality. But time hadn’t changed Rhett’s love for reading or Link’s love of waking up and hearing the ocean from Rhett’s bed. It hadn’t changed the fact that Link was still better at making the coffee and Rhett considered beans the best possible dinner option.

And time hadn’t worn down the love for each other. It had only settled it deeper into their bones and the cores of their very being. They’d had disagreements, but just like the pounding rains from the hurricane washed away the signs of dirt and sand that settled onto their porch and exterior walls, the rains were washing away any tension they may have shared from time to time.

“You want this to be just like before?” Rhett asked, knowing they’d already done things differently than he’d remembered. Link shook his head.

“I want to feel you.”

The first time, Link had given Rhett everything, in every sense of the word, but this time, he needed to feel Rhett, needed to experience what Rhett could give him in this moment. The candles warmed their bare skin as they both worked to take each other’s clothes off, a far cry from the hasty self-stripping they’d do for naptime quickies. This was slow, intentional, giving them time to linger fingertips and lips on each other.

Link pulled Rhett close, begging for deeper kisses and longer touches, sliding their bodies against each other and feeling skin against skin, hip bones against hip bones, his face buried somewhere in the crook of Rhett’s neck as Rhett continued to push against him. They didn’t need to hurry. The hurricane muffled the sounds and gasps that Link didn’t make directly against Rhett’s collarbones. Rhett worked a hand between them, wrapping it around both of them and watching as Link arched his back off of the floor.

But Link wasn’t so willing to give up control, wasn’t willing to let Rhett be the only one to give in this situation. He rolled them over, rolling Rhett onto the floor and himself onto Rhett. Rhett was having none of that, though, pulling at Link’s hips until Link was crawling up to his face. He guided Link down, easing him to right where he needed him. He wanted all of Link, every part, and part of that involved needing Link to be everything he could breathe or taste or feel. Link got the message, grinding against Rhett’s beard and tongue, the sensation of his beard ticklish on Link’s most sensitive places. Rhett gripped his thighs tightly, bringing Link to press harder onto his face, working his mouth along Link’s backside and using his teeth with great care. Link was leaning back, pressing down again and begging for more contact. He needed Rhett, needed to feel him inside of him, and Rhett obliged.

The warmth of Rhett’s tongue was overwhelming, and Link was desperate to reciprocate. He lifted himself off of Rhett just enough, turning in his best efforts not to accidentally kick Rhett in the face, and sat back down where Rhett wanted him, letting Rhett cling to his thighs and hold him in place. He draped himself down Rhett’s body, his mouth seeking contact with one specific thing, and he was thankful he could reach Rhett’s length with his mouth and his hands. For every move Rhett would make, every time Rhett would run his tongue along Link’s skin, Link would moan and move, take more of Rhett into his mouth, feel Rhett grip tighter to hold him in place. He could feel Rhett’s moans against his body, too, and for a long while, it was just that, lapping at each other, moaning onto each other’s skin, and doing everything they could to make the other feel good. They each took their time, working each other slower and slower, trying to get more of a reaction from each other. There wasn’t much fear of waking Charlie, all sounds not muffled by skin being otherwise masked by the pouring rain and howling wind. The whistling of the wind whipping under the house and the sound of bits of wood cracking and sighing under the pressure of the storm would have been creepy or downright terrifying if Link didn’t remember how much of a turn-on they were as they evoked memories of riding out the last storm with sex just like this.

But all thoughts of how good this was, and how the pleasure was only enhanced by the time they’d spent together, were cut short by Rhett tapping Link’s leg and laying his head back on the ground. “Baby, stop…” he said, whimpering under the touch of Link’s lips wrapped around his tip. “You still wanted… you wanted me to make love to you, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Link said, moving his mouth off of Rhett but staying in place, hand still around him.

“You’re gonna make me come before I can if you don’t stop,” Rhett admitted, despite the fact that he could have easily done this until they both finished, or done this until he did if Link was okay with taking charge that night. But Link had given a specific request, and Rhett was determined to fulfill it, especially since they rarely did things that way. It wasn’t that he disliked their usual system. It was that he loved making Link squirm and he loved seeing his face when they did things this way, loved that it was a rare occurrence that could always get Link going. If they did it like that more often, it might lose some of its appeal, Rhett imagined, especially since they enjoyed what they were doing typically so much anyway. “You, uh… are you ready?”

He was, and he made it clear with a nod and a scramble to turn himself around again, making sure  _ again  _ not to kick Rhett in the face by accident. He could be clumsy sometimes, and intimate moments were no exception. Once he was facing Rhett again, he didn’t really even need to talk to make it clear what he wanted. Rhett knew, but he said it anyway. “I want to ride you.” The words were a statement that almost felt like a question, and Rhett answered it by looping an arm around the back of Link’s neck and pulling him down into a kiss.

“I want that,” he sighed against Link’s lips. Clicking open the lube he’d tossed on the blanket before Link even came downstairs, he slicked his fingers up, sliding one arm down between their bodies, one finger into Link as he kept kissing him. Link groaned. It had been a while, but that didn’t matter, clearly, because Link was rocking against it.

“More,” he pleaded between kisses, and Rhett gave him exactly what he asked for, a second finger, letting Link bite his lip as it went in. “More,” Link begged again, and this time, Rhett was prepared to give him exactly what they both wanted. He helped guide himself into Link slowly. Link needed this, craved it like oxygen, and his attempt to take it slow failed as he ground down on Rhett quickly, crying out in pleasure and in that unique, intense feeling of fullness you can only get from that kind of passion.

They started slow enough, though, despite Link taking it to the hilt so quickly. The rhythm they found was punctuated by gasps, by the feeling of Rhett’s hands gripping his bare skin, by the soft slap of their bodies against each other as they picked up the pace. As much as they wanted this to last forever, Rhett was certain it wouldn’t last long enough. “Gosh, Link…” he breathed, pushing deeper, upwards as Link pushed down, getting as deep as he could. Link leaned back, mostly to get a good look at the long, lean features of his husband. He traced his fingers on Rhett’s chest, then along his newest tattoo, three overlapping heartbeats to represent the three members of their family in different colors, radiating from the center of his chest across his left pec to his side. Link never got sick of the view, and for a moment, he stopped their movements altogether, looking, wanting to make this last. If he’d kept moving, it would be over all too fast and that was the last thing he wanted. He leaned down, Rhett still inside of him, neither of them moving for friction now, and he kissed along the lines on Rhett’s skin. “I love you,” he said against Rhett’s chest. “I love you,” he said again, still kissing him. “I love you.” Three times. Three lines.

But then things were getting to be too much, the feelings and sensations as Link moved, pushing Rhett into him deeper. Neither of them were going to last much longer, no matter how hard they tried to hold off and let it take as long as possible. Rhett was gripping Link’s arm and Link was crying out against Rhett’s neck now, pushing back as Rhett thrusted in, and the friction on Link’s length between their bodies was enough for him, enough to send him spilling across them and to pull Rhett with him. As they stilled, they stayed just like that, Link lying down on Rhett and kissing his neck softly, slowly. It wasn’t until he rolled off of Rhett, started to suggest that they stay there until they were ready for round two, that a small voice cried out above the hurricane. “Dad! Daddy!” Link turned to face Rhett, chuckling.

“So much for reversing the roles tonight,” Link said, standing up and tugging his boxer briefs on.

“It’s a long hurricane. There’s always tomorrow night,” Rhett suggested. And in fairness, they didn’t have to just do it during the hurricane, either. “I’ll blow out candles, you go check on her.” Link nodded.

“Coming, Charlie, daddy’ll be right there,” Link hollered back.

It was when he reached the bottom step that, just over the hurricane, Link heard Rhett’s snarky quip. “Daddy already came like, five minutes ago….” He turned his head to Rhett and rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face couldn’t be wiped away.


	3. Aftermath

Link could hardly wrap his brain around how much damage there was this time around. After the last time, his sole focus had been on the windows staying intact. And they had. Not a single one of their windows broke, by some miracle, but the rest of the house? He couldn’t say the same. The exterior walls were damaged, chipping away at not just the paint he’d put there previously, but the wood on the house itself, leaving dings and dents in it and boards desperately needing replaced. Patches of the roof were missing, things they’d need to tarp right away until it could be repaired just to make sure it didn’t leak. An entire corner of the patio that wrapped around the house was simply  _ gone.  _ Link held Charlie on the porch to keep her away from it, instructing her to only go over there if she was held by one of them.

One of her favorite pastimes was to run around the entire patio around the house, and she would, making a beeline from one part of the deck to the other and back as he and Rhett sat outside and looked at out the bay, sometimes randomly jumping out to catch her and spin her around. The realization that she couldn’t do it left her teary-eyed. “Patio’s broken,” she sniffed, looking at Link. “No running, no playing.”

“No, baby girl, not for a little while. We’ll fix it, though. Daddy will fix it.” He was making promises knowing that Rhett wasn’t entirely on board with the plan. He’d looked underneath the house that morning, seen the damage to the beams there, and worried the house might not even be structurally sound enough for them to stay there for the time being. Link was begrudgingly packing up for them to stay in the motel for a few days and figure things out, but the thought of leaving his home, even if just for the night, wasn’t a pleasant one.

It wasn’t until they got to the mainland that evening, to the only hotel within a hundred miles that wasn’t full already, that they were able to talk about things when Charlie was asleep. They’d told her that this was a special fun trip, a little vacation, but the reality was much grimmer than they’d let on. Link had played with her in the hotel pool, and Rhett had built block structures on the hotel floor, but neither one of them let on that their hearts were in tatters.

“I don’t think it’s worth trying to fix,” Rhett said. He sounded defeated.

“No,” Link said. “No. You’re not going to convince me that my home isn’t worth fixing.” He was insistent. Angry, frustrated tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. “That is the only home I’ve ever remembered having, the  _ only  _ one, and you’re not going to tell me we can’t save it.”

“Link, it’s not worth it, baby. The cost alone--”

“Screw the money, Rhett!” Link raised his voice, but as Charlie stirred on the queen bed she was sprawled across, he lowered it again, almost to a whisper. “You really going to act like money is still an issue? We’ve  _ got  _ money. What we don’t have is another house like that one.”

“We could move back to North Carolina,” Rhett offered. They had never sold Link’s house there, instead keeping it as a rental property. It made a good AirBnB for large families traveling to the area, and if they ever needed or wanted to go back, they had it.

“No!” Link insisted. “That’s not  _ home.  _ It’s a house. It means nothing.” He couldn’t dismiss the six months they’d spent there after Samantha died, fighting for Charlie, how important that was, but the house was plagued with more bad memories than good ones. Tim’s family had argued hard that Charlie wasn’t biologically Link’s and shouldn’t go home with them, but after deliberation and the realization that Charlie was closest to Rhett and Link, it was an easy ruling. But the house wasn’t so easy, not for Link. The only reason he’d even been okay with not selling it was that it did turn a profit most months. Otherwise, he would have been happiest to see it go, to forget it ever existed.

“What about Nashville?” It held special memories for them, too. Their first vacation together, the night they’d committed to be each other’s before Link could legally marry anyone, his memory of his true identity still long gone at that point.

“Unless you’ve got plans for me to buy the whole damn hotel, I’m not going anywhere,” Link said. The hotel room in which they’d committed their lives to each other was the place of significance there for Link. “None of that’s home. Our house, that’s our home.”

“It’s just a house, too, Link. We can take all the furniture, we can keep the key in a special place to remember it by, we’ve got our pictures.” But Link shook his head.

“No. It’s  _ not  _ just a house.” For him, that was the place he’d made most of his memories in life. It was the place their child had celebrated her birthday in, the place she’d learned to walk in. It was where he and Rhett had made love for the first time, where they’d exchanged whispers of ‘I love you,’ and even where they’d had their first argument. It was so much more than a house. It was a house he’d built into a home with each touch of paint and backsplash tile and baseboard. It was the house he’d written his first novel in, a memoir of sorts, fictionalized enough to separate himself from the madness. “We can’t just leave it.”

“But  _ we  _ made it out. It’s our family that makes the home, Link, don’t you see that?”

Link could see it. He understood the basic concepts and the reasoning Rhett gave, but it wasn’t enough for him. He needed the house, too.

“You know I worry about Charlie making friends on the island, what that place will do to her when she gets older, how growing up there wouldn’t be easy,” Rhett said. “When I picked that place to live, I was alone and wanted to stay that way. I didn’t need friends consistently. But she  _ does _ , and we’re doing her a disservice by staying there. You know that.”

“No, Rhett, I don’t,” Link sighed. “Danny’s got a daughter. Mike at the pub has  _ two  _ kids on the way. She’ll have friends, friends who are there all the time. You can’t keep using that as an excuse!” Neither of them were letting go of their position, and Link knew sleep would prove elusive if they didn’t stop before things got even more heated. “Let’s just go to bed. We can figure it out tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Rhett huffed. He didn’t  _ want  _ to figure it out tomorrow. He wanted them to make a decision, wanted to have it done and decided so they could move on.

They didn’t touch that night. It was weird, being closer than ever in a queen sized bed, but they stuck to their separate sides. Typically, in the king-sized bed they shared at home, they overlapped and tangled together, sprawling and curling into each other at any given moment. It was at around five in the morning Rhett realized neither of them were asleep, and neither of them had slept at all. Link’s soft snores never once filled the room like they usually did, and Rhett had been tossing throughout the night. He rolled over to face Link, who still had his back to him.

Rhett tentatively reached out, grazing his fingertips along Link’s bare shoulder. Link turned to look over his shoulder at Rhett. “Yeah?”

“What about a compromise?”

“What’s that?”

“We fix the house and keep it for vacations, and move somewhere else for the rest of the year,” he offered. It was a leap for him. He’d spent many more years in the house than Link, years that he’d been alone. The best memories of his life were in that house that Link wanted to hold tight to so badly, but some of his darkest days were there, too. Retirement from crabbing was coming up quickly for him. They didn’t need the money, and if he was being honest, his back was giving out on him. The house no longer seemed like a necessity, but it didn’t mean they had to get rid of it.

“Counter-compromise,” Link muttered in response. “We fix the house with the intent that it become a vacation home, but we give ourselves time to think and see if we want to stay in it all the time.”

Rhett resisted the urge to roll his eyes at how little Link was budging there, saying he’d consider Rhett’s idea while working toward his own, but instead, Rhett gave a small nod. He wanted the argument to be over. He wanted to hold his husband and let them both get some sleep. Charlie would be waking up soon, too soon, and if this ended the argument, so be it. “Okay.”

Link smiled sadly. He’d gotten his way, but it didn’t feel good to make Rhett hurt, and it certainly didn’t erase the hard work they had ahead of them. But it did erase some of the pain that night, at least, some of the fear he had that they’d sell the house and he’d never see it again. It made his heart feel a little bit better, so he pushed his body back toward Rhett, letting Rhett hold him.

“I love you no matter what,” Rhett said. “The house isn’t going to change that.”

“It won’t change it for me, either,” Link answered. Even if they did move, nothing erased the love he had for Rhett, not entirely.

In the morning, though, they stood at a crossroads. Link wanted desperately to go back to the house and figure out what needed to be done, and Rhett wanted to stay at the hotel, give themselves another day before diving headfirst into it. The last thing he wanted was to go back too soon, and he figured if they waited, they’d have a better chance at finding another place to stay, perhaps a condo on the island, while they sorted out repairs. There was almost always a rental available in the off-season, and if they could find one that had a cancellation after the storm, they’d be in great shape.

The only solution Link could come up with was one where he took the truck back to the Island, an hour away, and looked the house over, letting Rhett stay with Charlie at the hotel and swim. It wasn’t ideal and it wasn’t how they usually handled this sort of thing, united partners on most fronts, but Link was stubborn and Rhett wasn’t budging, either.

Link hated making the drive back himself. He was thankful he  _ could  _ drive now without fear of being pulled over. After he’d regained his identity, if not his memories, he’d been able to get his own license in his new name. But he wasn’t happy that he was headed home without his family… this felt, to him, like something they should be there for. He understood, of course. Even the patio wasn’t safe for Charlie anymore, and if there were concerns that the place wasn’t structurally sound, they obviously couldn’t have her inside. But going to the Island alone felt all wrong, and he suddenly had the sense of what Rhett said he’d felt driving back without Link. Before Charlie, or rather, the day after they learned she existed, back when they believed she was Link’s, Rhett had taken him to the bus station and sent him home. He’d always told Link the drive back was torture, but Link couldn’t ever imagine it being more torturous than being on the bus to a life he didn’t remember. Driving back now, he understood. Going to an empty home felt hollow, like the items were there but the love wasn’t.

That was what hit him about what Rhett had been trying to say. The house was still their house, but without his family there, it lost the home-like feel it had. Without Charlie’s giggle resounding off of the walls or the sound of Rhett turning pages of his book in the chair, it didn’t feel like it did when they were breathing life into the home that they shared. It didn’t mean Link was ready to give up, though. He wasn’t. His goal was to make their house one his family could return to and make into a home. That couldn’t be done without a clear assessment of the damage.

Rhett was right about the underside of the house. Too many beams were damaged for them to be entirely safe in the home, and if they needed to repair those, it would take extensive time. Link wasn’t worried about the money. But the time, that was unbearable to think about. How many experiences and milestones would they miss during the repairs? He couldn’t be sure, but without a skilled contractor, it could take a long time. The project was way over his head. Paint and backsplashes, he could handle. Repairing deck boards and the dock was something he could do. But the rest, structural choices? All of that was beyond him. It felt impossible and overwhelming, and with the tally of the damages they had, he drove back to the hotel that night defeated and worn down.

Because of that, he wasn’t ready for the fight. He didn’t want to admit that Rhett was right and there was a chance they needed to consider a new place to live… permanently. His shoulders sagged as he walked in the door, Charlie already sound asleep, giving the same soft snores Link usually did. An open pizza box sat on the hotel table.

“Hey,” Rhett said.

“Hey,” Link grumbled, flopping in the chair next to the bed and grabbing a slice of pizza.

“Were you able to sort things out, baby?” Rhett asked, and Link just snorted and shrugged, mouth full of pizza.

He took his time chewing, thirty times for the bite in his mouth, then finally swallowed it. “Fine. You get what you want. The house is bad.”

“Link,” Rhett said, his voice soft and apologetic, “it’s not what I  _ want.  _ I want what makes you happy, I want the memories we have, I want wherever we go to feel like home, okay? It just seems like a lot of work when the memories and love are right here.” He tapped on his chest with his fingers. “If you want to try, we’ll try.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Link said. “There’s nothing to try. The house is in bad shape, and I’m not sure we’ll get to fix it.” He was crying again. That house was the one place in the world he held dear after everything that had happened to him. “We’ll start looking tomorrow. I can’t… I can’t tonight,” he muttered.

“No. Tomorrow we’re going to the Island and we’re finding a place to stay. We’re giving our home a solid effort. I’ve had all day to think about it, and you’re right. That place is where our memories are. I’m not letting it go if you aren’t,” Rhett insisted. Link wasn’t sure what led to the sudden change of heart, but he was frustrated neither of them could get on the same page. When he’d wanted to save the house, Rhett had been adamant they should sell, and when he’d realized they should get rid of it, Rhett was set on keeping it. Either way, they weren’t going to make any progress tonight, so after two slices of pizza, Link crawled into bed and listened to the quiet hum of the television show Rhett was mindlessly watching. He never watched TV, but having already read through the books he’d brought with him to the hotel, there was nothing else to do.


	4. Another Try

Certain Link was asleep when he turned the television off, Rhett drew Link closer to him and Link let himself be drawn in, his eyes staying closed. Rhett kissed his shoulder and whispered in the darkness. “I don’t know how, but we’re going to find a way to save our house.” If he looked closely, Rhett would have seen the telling smile that appeared on Link’s lips. He didn’t, though, never realizing Link was awake, and dozed off beside him.

Link squeezed Rhett’s hand in the truck on the way home, Charlie behind them in her car seat. The truck was the one upgrade and replacement Rhett had easily agreed to, if only to make sure Charlie had a safe seat. They still only had one car, but they mostly only needed to go places as a family, so despite having plenty of money to buy another, or a brand-new truck, Rhett had found a make and model similar to his old one, the same year and style, but with a backseat in the cab. It seemed like the perfect compromise, and it had suited their family well. “What made you change your mind on the house?”

Rhett looked at Link and shook his head with a slight smirk. “How many times have we talked about getting a new couch in the last, oh, two years?”

“Probably five or six. Why?” Link asked.

“And how many times have we settled that discussion by repeating,” he glanced back at Charlie, then at Link, censoring himself, “certain  _ memories  _ we have on that couch?”

“Five or six, every time we talk about replacing it and giving it a proper send-off.”

“Yeah. Exactly. We can’t even get rid of a dang couch because we have so many memories attached to it. You really think we’re going to give up our house that easily? Not a chance.” The logic made sense to both of them. They were both far too sentimental to easily let that thing go. It was why, despite having a lot more money, nothing had really changed for them other than subtle improvements… a new lamp to replace one Charlie had teetered into and broken, a new set of dinner plates that was supposedly unbreakable. Even when Charlie had hit her head on a side table, needing two stitches, and Link had briefly suggested they get rid of every item of furniture and become floor-dwellers of some sort, they hadn’t gotten rid of any of the furniture they’d had before, including the offending table. It all held too much weight for them, and they’d keep it until they couldn’t possibly hold onto it any longer.

And for that reason, Rhett no longer wanted to get rid of their house. He’d at first seen the damage as an opportunity, one that could force them out of their comfort zone to make a less seasonal, transient life for Charlie. But when he stopped to consider it, he realized that there was no other life for them but the one on that island unless they truly had no other choice. Right now, they had a choice, a chance to fix the house, and if Rhett could help it, they were going to.

It seemed like the whole Island, as they returned, was struggling to get pulled back together. Rhett felt bad for being gone for a few days when it seemed like everyone they were close to there needed them. Before even going home, Rhett pulled the truck into the parking lot at Miguel’s and went inside as Link grabbed Charlie from the backseat.

“You guys holding up okay?” The boards had been taken off the windows and doors, but even then, a thick coating of sand and salt remained on the floor, left behind from minor flooding that sandbags hadn’t held out.

“Eh, got sand everywhere, but what can you do? I don’t think we got the bags down properly.” Danny was hesitant to sell out his employees there, too young to know how to put them down correctly. He knew he should have double-checked the work, but he didn’t, too focused on the boards, and now they were paying for it.

“We’re happy to help you clean up,” Link said, now inside with Charlie on his hip. “I’m sure we can get it taken care of.” He placed Charlie on the ground, stepping around Danny for a broom. Danny still hadn’t fully adjusted to restaurant ownership, but now that Miguel had retired and sold the business to him, deciding to move inland, he was on his own with this. Rhett and Link had chipped in a few times, trying to make sure everything was smooth. This was the first major hiccup, and they were happy to help clean up from it. Link swept the dust and sand toward the door, hoping that they could send most of it back outside where it belonged. He was positive they’d need to hose everything down with water, too, but if he could get the process started while Rhett and Danny talked, he would.

A full hour into their work at Miguel’s, Charlie was starting to get impatient. “More crayons?” She asked at first, then demanded them, sitting on the stool behind the counter. She’d been coloring nicely for more than her attention span typically held out, but now she’d broken the tips on each of her crayons and wasn’t happy. Link hadn’t brought more, though, and was running out of ways to keep her settled while they finished this. It looked like Danny was going to be on his own.

Just as Link turned to pick her up from the stool, let Rhett know he was going to head to the truck, the front door of Miguel’s swung open. “Are you op-- Link?”

“Levi?” Link hadn’t seen Levi since they’d left North Carolina, or rather, since well before that even. He’d only seen him once after kicking Max out of his house, firing him. He could still remember the details, Levi being a genuinely nice guy married to the complete scumbag that was Rhett’s ex-husband. Link had hoped Levi would have left Max after Max kissed Rhett the first night Rhett had been back in North Carolina, but it hadn’t seemed that way, not when Link had last seen them together. It was what it was, though, and now, he was mostly just surprised to see him.

“Wow, she’s gotten so big,” Levi noted, then turned his attention back on Link. “We were, uh… we were stopping in to see if this place was open. We saw cars out front and haven’t really had much luck finding a place to eat.”

“Oh, sorry. With the hurricane, I think everyone is in cleanup mode, honestly,” Link said. “What brings you to the Island?”

“Vacation. We, uh, I think we underestimated how big the storm was going to be and decided to come anyway. Looks like it hit everyone pretty hard. You?” Levi seemed to completely forget the fact that Rhett had joined him in North Carolina from this particular island, but the ‘we’ he spoke of seemed to make one thing clear: Max had to be somewhere around.

“We live here. Well, not here. Up the island a little bit. But we live on this island, you know?” Link said. “Anyway, yeah, they’re… they’re closed. Sorry.” He wished he could be more help, but no one on this island would be open for days. “Let me guess, it was Max who suggested you came here on vacation?” Link wouldn’t put it past the jerk who’d cornered his husband in the hallway, planted doubt in the relationship he had with Link, to suggest they somehow stage an accidental meeting.

“No, I picked it,” Levi said, smirking. “I wouldn’t know where Max takes his vacations now. I haven’t seen him in a year.”

“Oh!” Link yelped a little, feeling sorry for the accusation at that point. “I hadn’t realized. When you said we, I--”

“I know. It’s okay. I’m here with my fiance, actually.” Levi said. “I’m sorry for everything that happened. For what it’s worth, uh, it turns out Max is scummy to everyone. I guess I already knew that,” he shrugged, “but he cheated on me. I mean, past the whole… incident. I caught him in bed with someone.”

“I’m sorry,” Link said. He shook his head. Some people never changed.

“It worked out. Turns out the guy he was with didn’t know about me, just like I didn’t know about Rhett. But he knows about me now, because he’s out in the car waiting for me.” Link had to laugh at that. That’s one way to handle your husband’s infidelity: stealing his boyfriend. “Anyway, do you need any help? We’re still on the island for another couple of days and we’d be happy to help with the cleanup efforts. We just weren’t sure how to offer, but a familiar face seems like a good start.”

It wasn’t until Rhett came around the corner that things felt tense again suddenly. “Levi?” Rhett asked, stepping part of the way in front of Link like he was shielding him.

“Rhett, Levi’s here on vacation with his fiance and wanted to know if he could help with cleanup,” Link explained, which eased Rhett’s tension and left him stepping aside to stand next to Link more than in front of him.

“In that case, uh, grab a broom. We’re all just trying to get the sand out of here first,” Rhett said. “Danny promised us tacos after, if that’s your thing.” The taco offer was new to Link, likely negotiated in the other room while he’d been working in the lobby. He wasn’t rejecting it, though. Rhett turned away from Levi for a moment. “She still doing okay?”

“She broke her crayons so I’m going to go see if I can find some cars or something for her to play with. Watch her for a second?” Rhett nodded and gave Link a small kiss on the temple. They had calmed down these kind of overt displays of affection in most cases, well past their honeymoon phase and not needing to constantly have that close contact, but in moments like this, it felt right, and Link assumed at least part of it was a sign to Levi -- stay the heck away. Even though they both believed that Levi really didn’t know about Rhett until he was in too deep, Link couldn’t blame Rhett for stressing about it. Rhett had nothing to worry about, though.

“Hey, do you, uh, do you own this place?” A man outside asked Link as he stepped out for the cars he’d promised to get Charlie.

“Nope, just lending a hand,” Link answered, giving him a small wave as he kept walking. He realized then that this wasn’t a polite response, and turned back toward the man. “The owner’s inside, though. Just ask for Danny.”

“Oh. Do you know him?” He asked. “I, uh, I was waiting out here for my fiance and noticed a few of the boards on the front step were loose. I wanted to let him know that I fixed them and make sure it was alright. I probably should have ask--”

“You’re, uh, you’re Levi’s fiance?” Link asked, reaching a hand out, then realizing he had Charlie’s broken crayons in it. He stuffed them in his pocket and offered his now-empty hand for a handshake. “I’m Link. I’m sure Danny will be very thankful. I heard he’s offering tacos for anyone helping out.”

“Oh, wow, okay, thank you. I’m Wes. Wait, do you know Levi?” Confusion crossed his face.

“Yeah, sort of. He’s, uh… well, your fiance’s ex-husband, or, uh, I guess your ex-boyfriend, is… uh… he’s my husband’s ex-husband. Or, uh, my ex-lawyer. Or… gosh, it’s just… it’s all really complicated, sorry,” Link said, looking at his feet. It was only after he said it that he realized the first conversation with a person probably wasn’t the best time to mention that he knew Wes had an affair with Max, but it was too late to stuff the words back in, too late to take it back. Wes got a crooked grin.

“I see you and my fiance have caught up, then,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Link, was it?”

“Yeah. Anyway, I have a very impatient toddler inside waiting for some toy cars, so I better grab those. It was nice meeting you, truly, and I hope you’ll stick around for tacos.”

“I never miss a chance to eat,” Wes answered him and patted his lean stomach. By his frame, you wouldn’t be able to tell.

Inside, the cars kept Charlie calm for a long time, and everyone worked hard on getting the dirt and sand out. Wes found a few more loose boards inside, likely more from general wear than from the hurricane itself, but he set about repairing them anyway.

“You seem handy to have around, Wes,” Rhett said at one point, admiring his handiwork on one of the boards he’d replaced.

“I’m just glad I left my toolbox in the truck,” Wes shrugged. Levi explained that Wes was a contractor by trade, one that truly loved his work, rather than just tolerating it.

“Too bad you’re just here on vacation,” Link said. “Seems our house is in need of quite a few repairs itself.” It was impossible for Link to miss the look that Wes gave Levi there, one he couldn’t quite decipher, opportunity, maybe? But it didn’t matter. They had been working for a long time, and Danny had cleaned up enough to make some tacos for the first time in days.

“Thank goodness the freezer was ice-packed,” he said. “Managed to have some of the fish Rhett caught the other day still frozen and ready to go.” Charlie wasn’t as keen on tacos as the hungry men surrounding her were. Instead, she sat on the clean floor with a styrofoam box, carefully, or as carefully as she could manage, putting cheese on the tortilla, folding it in half, and eating it as the cheese fell out the other end. She’d open it back up, re-stuff it with the cheese that had fallen, and make another attempt, repeating it again and again until her version of a taco was gone.

“She’s cute,” Wes nodded toward Charlie. “Surrogate or adoption?” he asked curiously, smiling at Rhett and Link.

“Attempted murder,” Link said, then slapped a hand over his mouth. “I mean, not like… we didn’t… uh, I didn’t try to…”

“What he’s trying to say,” Levi clarified, “is that his ex tried to murder  _ him  _ to cover up… you know what? It’s a long story.” Rhett closed his eyes and shook his head, a small smirk there that he couldn’t hide. He’d always known that having a child wasn’t necessarily easy for same-sex couples, particularly in the part of the country where they lived, but somehow he and Link had managed to go about having a child in the most difficult, complicated, and at some times terrifying way possible. He had to admit that the story made sense for them, that of  _ course  _ it would have been that complicated.

“We like to do things the hard way,” Rhett muttered. “Everything the hard way.” Link let out a small snort at that, and turned his attention back to Levi and Wes.

“Are you two, uh, you two planning on kids?”

“Eventually,” Levi said, “but we’ve got to settle down a little bit, I think. Find a forever home, get married, all of that sort of thing.”

“Forever home?” Rhett asked.

“I have to say, after everything that’s happened in Raleigh over the past year or so, it’s not got the best memories for me,” Levi admitted. “I’m ready for a change. I’ve got work tying me there, but if I could get free of it, I’d be in a place like this in a heartbeat.”

Sometimes Rhett forgot how lucky they were to live in a place like this. It was easy to say that he wanted to move back to the mainland or even back to North Carolina, but when he thought of it, there were just as many people scrambling to get out of those places. He lived in paradise, and even if his daughter would lack some of the connections a less seasonal life offered, she’d have so many wonderful opportunities, too. And it wasn’t like the island was completely missing any kids altogether, like Link had mentioned. If he thought about it, really, truly considered it, the island was home, and there was no switching that off.

* * *

 

The condo they were in didn’t feel like home to Link, but it was going to have to work for a little bit until they were able to get moved back in. He was thankful they’d encountered Wes, and by extension, Levi, when they did. Link would have done anything to save the house that he could, and spending some money to make sure Wes and Levi could stay on the island seemed worth it.

Money hadn’t changed Link, or Rhett for that matter. They’d still kept all of their worn out furniture until it had to be replaced, and for now, Rhett still caught and sold crabs. They didn’t  _ spend  _ money, not really, but when they had something worth spending it on, like the house, there was plenty of it to handle the important things. Besides, insurance would cover a lot, so as they considered their finances, paying for a condo for a few months to let Wes and Levi stay there for Wes to work on it seemed to make sense. What they hadn’t anticipated was being neighbors, since aside from getting their things from the house, they couldn’t live there during the repairs. Instead, they rented the condo out right next to Wes and Levi, who had gone home for a few days to gather their things and come back.

But the condo was something, Link decided, something that allowed them to stay in the area. Rhett couldn’t crab while they were living there, not unless he wanted to drive over to the house every morning and do it, but instead, they just filled the time other ways. Charlie was excited to have access to the pool, which was included in the condo fees, both indoor and outdoor. Rhett kept the strength that helped his arms haul the crab traps up in the gym. If Link had been anyone else, had less of a desire to be back home, he might have considered trading the house for the condo, which had all kinds of amenities to make life easier.

But their house was their home, and as much as they settled into the condo, it still felt like a vacation. It only made Link itch with anticipation that they’d be back home soon. Thankfully, the condo had a balcony, one of Rhett’s favorite features from home. It wasn’t quite as large, but he still enjoyed taking Link out there after Charlie went to bed, holding him close and listening to the waves crash on the shore. The ocean waves were a little louder, and in the distance, oil rigs dotted the horizon in a way that they didn’t on the other side of the island. It was amazing what half a mile could do in terms of the view. Link curled closer to Rhett, kissing him.

That seemed to be enough to get them both worked up, pulling at each other’s clothes. Charlie was sound asleep inside, and when they had moments like this, moments where they both seemed awake and interested, they went for it, tugging clothing off and getting down to business quickly. The lounge chair on the balcony was perfect for it, despite it creaking under their movements and the way Link pushed into Rhett, one of Rhett’s legs over his shoulder. “Oh my god,” Rhett groaned, laying his head back on the chair and feeling the fullness of Link in him. “That’s so good.”

As Link thrusted, they both became less coherent, though, clinging to each other. Rhett tried to muffle his screams in Link’s shoulder, but some escaped as he got louder and more desperate to finish. “Are you okay?” a concerned voice called from the other side of the wall that divided the balconies. “Okay, I’m not hearing an answer so I’m going to go ahead and dial the police.”

“Shi-oot,” Link yelped, climbing off of Rhett and scrambling toward the edge of the balcony. “No, we’re okay, we’re, uh… we’re fine and safe!” he called. “Sorry for the, uh, the noise.”

“You’re… oh. Ohhhh,” the voice responded, realization dawning on them. “I am so sorry, it sounded like maybe someone was getting stabbed. I did not realize… shoot. Link?”

“Wes?” Link asked. “I didn’t realize you guys were back, sorry.” The condo had been largely empty after the hurricane, most of the bookings cancelled, so Link chalked up their lack of care or quiet to that fact. “We’ll keep it down.”

“No, it’s, uh, you guys have fun… sorry to interrupt.”

Link heard the sliding glass door open and then close in the now-quiet air. He was still naked, and so was Rhett, but neither of them were ready to pick up where they left off, both torn between absolute mortification and complete hilarity, laughing and blushing as they crept back to their bedroom in shame. “Well, at least you weren’t being stabbed, even if you sounded like you were,” Link offered up.

“I mean, I  _ was  _ being impaled in some form,” he joked, and instead of putting on clothes, he tossed himself back onto the king-sized bed. “You’re getting dressed?” he asked, as Link started to tug on his underwear.

“You want to pick up where we left off?” Link asked, dropping the underwear to the ground again.

“I was hoping we could at least pick up somewhere,” Rhett answered. “I’m not sure you were done, uh, stabbing me.”

“I think we should stick to impaling instead of stabbing,” Link laughed, straddling Rhett on the bed and kissing him, laying him back down. They had unfinished business to attend to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to mythical-trash, fanbabble, and maybe-mythical for beta reading this. Thanks to clemwasjustagirl/shewasjustagirl for the encouragement and troubleshooting on some scenes.


	5. After All

It was incredible. The house truly looked as good as new. Wes had worked hard on all of the repairs to make it structurally sound, and Link had been thrilled to put a new coat of paint on the entire thing. It truly did look perfect again, safe and reliable in front of the bay. Wes had even gone so far as to repair the deck, making it more kid-friendly  _ and  _ crabbing friendly, and for that, Link was so thankful.

He couldn’t believe how much progress had been made in such a short amount of time. Wes had even found a few people on the island without much work as the season ended, and he’d hired them on to help, with Link’s permission. The incredible work on Link’s house was enough for him to have full confidence in Wes as a contractor. It was why it seemed like a no-brainer when he and Rhett discussed investing in Wes and the small company he seemed to be forming to repair their house.

Wes had been thrilled, of course, happy to accept an offer that allowed him eventual full ownership of the company, with a little boost from Rhett and Link to get started. Levi had mentioned that he’d worked for others as a contractor, but the fact that they were giving him the chance to form his own company was overwhelming to him. Of course, that meant Wes and Levi needed to relocate to the island permanently. Link was certain it wouldn’t take Levi long to find work, but in the meantime, he was certain the salary he suggested Wes take with his investment would more than meet their needs.

When that decision was made, the hunt for the perfect house began, and ended right next door to Rhett and Link. In the way of neighbors, Levi and Wes didn’t seem so bad. They were the kind of people who Rhett and Link felt like they could have over for dinner or to sit around the fire pit occasionally. And with their own little one on the way, thanks to a surrogacy offer from a friend, Rhett was significantly less worried about Charlie having friends.

That was why they were celebrating that night, sitting around the fire, beers in hand, and a guitar on Rhett’s lap. Levi and Wes, because in a few short weeks they’d have their baby girl, and Rhett and Link, because they were home, not just home, but a home surrounded by friends and neighbors.

“Seems to me that y’all are slowly making this island gayer,” Levi joked, raising his beer bottle toward Rhett and Link. “I mean, started with you, Rhett, then you added Link to the mix, and now we’re here… it won’t be long until it all goes downhill and the annual parade is a pride one,” he joked. “In Alabama of all places, too.” He shook his head.

“Oh, yeah, that was my goal when I moved here to escape all men on the planet. To eventually make this a gay destination,” Rhett laughed. He was happy. This felt relaxed, felt right, felt like more than he could have ever dreamed of when he bought the house, sight unseen, escaping the life he’d had before. It wasn’t what he ever expected, to be married and sitting around the fire with the man his ex-husband cheated on him with, but here they were. And this was exactly the life Rhett never could have imagined, but was happy to have anyway. “Though, uh, if you hear any screaming in the future… maybe, um, don’t call the police?” Rhett joked. “We can always get you some earplugs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to mythical-trash, clemwasjustagirl/shewasjustagirl, fanbabble, and maybe-mythical for keeping me sane and editing this. Couldn't do it without you all.


End file.
